Makeup Bags To Go

My husband and I have stepped foot on all seven continents and almost completely circumnavigated the globe over the 20 years or so that we have been avid travelers. When it comes to packing, we have learned that less is. . .less to carry.

When it comes to toiletries especially, you need to decide just exactly what is essential. To save weight and space, check out the samples aisle of your local drugstore (CVS, Walgreen's, etc.). You will find smaller items that will make do for your trip even if you can't find just exactly the same brand that you normally use. It is also the place to find those liquid carry-on items that are no bigger than 3 ounces to get through security at the airport.

Now since this is Crafty Saturday, here is a link to a site that has more than 18 different kinds of makeup bags you can sew. One in particular would be great to roll up and tuck in your suitcase and would make a great gift item for someone who travels.

[Posted by Karen Robbins]

Creative De-Stressing

When I was a florist, the holidays were truly a time of stress. Not only did I have all the usual Christmas preparations, I also had tons of orders to fill for flowers and fruit baskets in the shop. Whenever I was beginning to show signs of stress my friend, Chris, who worked with me always suggested I go home and bake to de-stress. That was what she did and we could always tell when she was over stressed. Plates of goodies would show up on our workbenches.

Now baking would be more stressful for me than many other things I could think of. Crocheting is probably my best way to deal with stress. I can whip up an afghan in no time if I'm working off nervous energy or anger or stress.

If baking or crocheting are not on your list of de-stressers, here are some other suggestions (crafty, of course):

• Painting- Acrylics are easy to use or even watercolors. If you don't feel creative, get a paint by number. Some of them are really easy and a good distraction.


• Embroidery- Pick a really simple kit and make an ornament, a card, or a runner for your table.


• Put together a jigsaw puzzle. There is something calming in this and to make it crafty, get some clear coating made especially for jigsaw puzzles and coat the puzzle so you can frame it.


• Grab your camera and take a long walk. Take some pictures of landscapes, then zero in on things a little closer and capture something unique or unusual. Try photographing textures or patterns. Or pick a theme and take pictures to fit the theme.

If all else fails, buy yourself a roll of bubble wrap or a pack of bubble gum and pop it!

[posted by Karen Robbins]

Presentation, As Important As Taste

If you have followed my posts, you'll find that I am not the cook/baker among the Word Quilters. My best recipe for chocolate chip cookies comes from the refrigerated section of the grocery store and has a little dough boy on the label. I do make a mean cake at Christmas and Easter though. I have a daughter-in-law who likes a white cake with fresh strawberries as the filling between layers. Of course my cake is from a mix, my icing from a can, and the coconut topping from a bag. I slice up the strawberries and place them between the layers as I'm icing the cake. If it will be consumed quickly--which is usually the case, I place fresh strawberries on top as well.

In trying to be crafty (it is Crafty Saturday) I came up with this alternative that I think I'll try out myself this year--sugar frosted fruit. After all, presentation is as important as taste. Most of you are probably ahead of me on this but if not, here's how it goes:

You'll need a beaten egg white in a small bowl, extra fine sugar in another small bowl, a paint brush used only for food, and your fresh fruit--strawberries or grapes or raspberries or blackberries. Wash and dry the fruit on a paper towel. Set out another paper towel for the finished project to dry on. Now take the paint brush and coat the piece of fruit with the egg white. Then either dip it in the sugar or use a teaspoon to shake sugar over the top of the fruit. I would think the later would work best to keep the sugar dry.

Use as a garnish on your cake top or other desserts for Christmas dinner.

Now, if you get to this before I do, let me know how it went and if you have any other helpful hints I can use, pass them along.

Happy delicious crafting! Karen Robbins

Crafty Idea for the Charity Gift Tree

Many shopping malls, stores, and churches at this time of year put up Christmas trees with paper ornaments that have a name or description of a child on it for you to take, buy a gift for, and return for distribution to the child. Since it's Crafty Saturday, let's consider a gift of creativity. What child, young or old, doesn't like markers, colored pencils, watercolors, paper, fancy templates, fun hole-punches, stickers, etc.? Why not consider putting together a crafty box of supplies?

Or if you want to shortcut the process, check out your local craft store for craftkits. There are tons of choices from making jewelry to paint by number to wood projects. Just remember that the child may not have an adult to help them with the project so you want to make it something easy and age-appropriate.

While you are at it, mention that you are looking for a gift for a charity tree and perhaps the store would be willing to give a discount or add something of their own for you to add to the tree gift.

If this is something that you do on an annual basis, remember to shop the sales after Christmas!

Happy crafting! Karen Robbins

Holiday Inn - Crooning with Bing

Here's a golden oldie that many people forget about when they are lining up their Christmas movies. Back in 1942 (before my time!) Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire got together to make the movie Holiday Inn and gave us one of our most beloved Christmas songs, "White Christmas," which Crosby later used as the title to his remake of the movie in 1954 (during my lifetime).

With that in mind, I thought you might enjoy some ideas for making snowflakes should the real ones fail to show for Christmas.

Stick-on snowflakes for windows:

Using a pencil, draw simple snowflake designs onto a piece of wax paper. Trace over each design with glitter glue. Make nice, thick lines so the snowflake will be sturdy. Let dry completely overnight. Gently peel the snowflakes from the paper. If the glue is still wet, turn the flakes over and allow to dry more.

Use as window clings or add to gift packages.

Pasta snowflakes:

Save up those leftover uncooked pasta shapes for this project. On a piece of waxed paper, arrange the shapes to make a snowflake shape. Glue the pieces together. Let dry completely and finish by spraying with glue and sprinkling with glitter.

Snowflakes to munch:

Using flour tortillas and a pair of clean sharp scissors, fold the tortilla in fourths and cut as you would to make a snowflake from paper. You may need to warm the tortillas a bit in the oven to make them more pliable.

In a fry pan, add a very little oil and fry the tortilla until crisp. Top tortilla with powdered sugar or cinnamon and sugar.

[posted by Karen Robbins]

Gingerbread Cookies For The Tree

Gingerbread cookies make wonderful tree decorations. Not only do they look decorative but they add a wonderful aroma to your Christmas celebration. You can make them in the traditional gingerbread man shape or use a different shape for a themed tree.

6 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup shortening, melted and cooled slightly
1 cup molasses
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup water
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1.Sift together the flour, baking powder, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and cinnamon; set aside.

2.In a medium bowl, mix together the shortening, molasses, brown sugar, water, egg, and vanilla until smooth. Gradually stir in the dry ingredients, until they are completely absorbed. Divide dough into 3 pieces, pat down to 1 1/2 inch thickness, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.

3.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters. Place cookies 1 inch apart onto an ungreased cookie sheet.

4. Use raisins for eyes and a piece of red licorice for a mouth. Buttons down the front can be either raisins or cinnamon candy.

5.Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven. When the cookies are done, use a plastic straw to make a hole at the top for a ribbon or string hanger. Cool cookies on parchment paper or clean newspaper.

If cookies will be consumed after hanging on the tree, you might want to wrap them in clear cellophane wrap or thin plastic bag. Gather the wrap at the top and tie with ribbon that can be used as hanger as well. If you don't wrap cookies, they will definitely need a dusting unless consumed quickly.

If you will not be eating the cookies, you can add a little extra spice for that little more wonderful ginger smell.

[posted by Karen Robbins]

Make A Small Gift Box

Here is a great idea for making a pretty gift box.

• Take an empty tea bag box or similar small box, carefully pull it apart at the seams and flatten it out.
• On scrapbooking paper or card stock or other decorative paper that is stiff, use a pencil to trace the outline of the flattened box on the backside of the paper.
• Cut along the traced outline.
• Make folds that correspond to the folds on the original box.
• Use double sided tape or glue to assemble the box.
• Place gift inside and finish with a pretty ribbon.

[posted by Karen Robbins]

Eco-Friendly Gifts to Make

One of the best gifts I ever got was a pretty fabric bag to store all the plastic bags I seemed to collect from grocery shopping. Plastic bags come in handy for all sorts of things from transporting wet bathing suits to packing shoes in a suitcase to keep them from soiling the clean clothes. Here's an easy way to make one:

You will need a piece of cotton fabric-about a half yard, 6"-8" of 1/8-1/4" wide elastic, cording about 18"-24" long, sewing machine, thread, scissors, safety pin. The "about" measurements allow for you to use up scraps or hit the remnant bin at the fabric store.

Put two sides of material right sides together and sew a seam so that you make a long cylinder leaving the seam open two inches at top and bottom. At the top sew a hem or casing for the cording to pass through. Tuck the raw edges in to finish off the opening where you will pass the cording through using a large safety pin. Tie the two ends of the cording together (if you want to get fancy, you can add a large wooden bead here as well.

At the bottom, make another hem or casing and pass the elastic through. Either tie the ends together tightly or sew them. This should close the bottom enough to keep the bags inside but yet allow you to pull one at a time out of the bottom. If you give it as a gift, be sure to put some bags in it to demonstrate its use.

Another gift idea is to make reusable grocery bags either from scratch, or buy some inexpensive ones at the grocery store and personalize them with your own appliqued designs either sewn on or by using iron on appliques.

[posted by Karen Robbins]

No-Sew Fleece Pillow

Not only am I a Word Quilter, I'm also a Quilt Quilter. Hmmm. That sounds funny. One of the best places to find fabric for quilting or crafting is in the remnant bin. I love finding treasures. It is there that I suggest you look for some fleece for this no-sew pillow project which is a great gift for just about any age. You will need two pieces of fleece-3/4 yard each. Or two pieces of fleece that measure 25" X 25" for a 14" pillow. (Pictured here are several fleece patterns from JoAnn Fabrics online.)



Here's the list of supplies:

Two pieces of fleece 25"X25" (be sure you don't include the selvage in that measurement)
One 14" pillow form
Ruler
Sharp scissors

Instructions:

• Place the two 25" squares (no selvage) "wrong" sides together if you can figure that out. Some fleece looks the same on both sides. Secure with a few pins.
• Cut a 5"X5" square out of each corner.
• Now cut 5" long fringe that is 3/4" wide on all four sides. It might be easiest to measure the five inches in from the edge and place a strip of masking tape there to use as a cutting guide.
• Tie a piece of back fringe to a piece of front fringe all around three sides. Make the knot right at the 5" mark. Some fleece tends to stretch more one direction than another so you might want to turn one of your layers so that a stretchy side is matched to a less stretchy side.
• Insert your pillow form and finish tying the fourth side. It may be easier to tie every other one and then go back and finish the inbetween knots.
• Voila! A beautiful pillow ready to be wrapped and given to a beautiful person on your gift list. And if you can find remnants and/or sales, your pillow should easily be less than $25!

[Posted by Karen Robbins]

Craft Books for Kids

While our theme for the week is children's books for the holidays, for Crafty Saturday, I'd like to suggest a book that might help get you and the kids started on making some gifts. Gifts Kids Can Make, by Sheila McGraw has some easy gifts to make and even instructions for home made wraps.


Looking for some good ideas for gift giving for the youngsters? How about come craft books? I ran across a series of books called, Look What You Can Make With. . . The series uses paper plates, household items, paper bags, etc. This might be a great gift idea for a teacher as well. (Search at Amazon and you'll easily find the series.)

Another idea--cookbooks for kids. Again if you search Amazon or Barnes and Noble, you'll come up with quite a variety from Betty Crocker, Pillsbury, and other sources. When I was a kid, I had a kid's cookbook that I used well into the first years of my marriage. Some of the recipes were so easy and so good, I made them often.

All of these kind of books teach kids to follow instructions that can be a great help to them in the future--like when they are in their chemistry lab in high school or college.

[Posted by Karen Robbins ]

Treats For Our Special Friends

Because we are on the road so much, we no longer have furry or feathered pets at home that need a great deal of care while we are gone. We do however have finned friends. Our salt water aquarium contains a yellow tang, a pair of clown fish, and a blue tang as well as a brittle starfish, a sea cucumber, a pair of cleaner shrimp and lots of crabs and snails to help keep the tank clean of alga. They do pretty well on their own with an automatic feeder and timed lights.

While our fish do exhibit some notice of us, they are not the tail-wagging or purring receptions other pets offer. For those who would like to reward those tail-waggers, here is a recipe for dog bone treats.

Dog BonesIngredients
•2 cups whole wheat flour
•2 cups soya flour
•1 cup wheat germ
•1 cup corn meal
•1 cup dry nutritional yeast flakes (from Health Food Store)
•1/2 cup cooking oil
•1 egg
•1 3/4 cup water or broth
Directions
Place dry ingredients in large bowl. Blend. Mix together egg, oil, and water. Add these ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until all ingredients are well blended.

Divide dough in thirds. On floured surface, roll out to 1/4" thick. Cut out dog bone shapes. (Optional -- prick tops three times with toothpick.) Place on well oiled baking sheet.

Bake at 325 degrees F for 25-30 min. Biscuits should be well browned on the bottom. Don't store in an air tight container. Makes approx. 4 doz.

And for those purring friends, here's a treat for the holidays.

Cheese Ball Treats
•2 tablespoons of margarine
•1/2 cup grated cheddar or cheddar jack cheese
•1 egg white from a large egg
•1/2 cup whole wheat flour
•1 teaspoon of fresh chopped catnip or 1/2 teaspoon of dried catnip

Combine the first three ingredients until well blended. In a separate bowl, combine flour and catnip. Add the flour mixture slowly to the first three ingredients, mixing until a soft dough ball is formed. Separate into 1/2-inch pieces and roll by hand into small balls. Place the balls on an ungreased cookie sheet, and bake at 300 degrees F for approximately 25 minutes. Yield: Approximately 12 balls. Cool completely before serving.

With Every Christmas Card. . .

Christmas carols and hymns are an integral part of our Christmas celebration. The sounds of the season fill my husband's car from Thanksgiving to New Years. When the kids were really little, they would join in with us as we sang to the songs on the radio. Later they would just sit and sigh and put up with us. But it was another way for them to learn the story of Christmas--to see that it was more than just a gift-giving/receiving holiday. That it was a celebration of the birth of Hope.

Back when I was twenty-something and had more time and energy to expend, I handmade my Christmas cards. Often I used a hymn or carol as the theme to my card. Today, it is so much easier to make those cards with all of the nifty scrapbooking supplies, stencils, and card stock available in craft stores. Or my favorite now, easy-to-use computer programs like Word and/or PhotoShop that allow you to create your own card in a jiffy.

Here's a quick idea for Christmas cards from your computer.

You will need:

Letter-sized parchment paper with matching envelopes

Your computer and printer (color optional)

1. Open a Word document and change the page layout to landscape. Make the margins .5 all the way around. (You may get a warning notice when you go to print that the margins aren't big enough but run a test page to see how it prints.)

2. In page layout, choose three columns. Your envelopes are most likely business sized so we will make a tri-fold card.

3. Choose an old favorite hymn. You can find lyrics on the web if you search for the hymn. You can copy and paste either directly to your card or in another doc to copy the words from.

4. When you look at your page layout, remember that the column on the right will be the cover of your card. Move your cursor to that area, click to center the text and enter your hymn. You may have to play with font size and type of font to get it to fit. If you want it to fit horizontally, use a text box and the tool that allows you to change the direction of the text.

5. The left side of your page will be the second page of your card. You can either continue the hymn on here or say something like "Wishing you and yours. . ." (We'll finish the message inside.)

6. Now make a second page. You can do this easily by going to the bottom of the first page and inserting a page break. This way you get a second page with the same layout. The center column of this page will be the inside of your card. Here is where you will finish your message, "A Blessed Christmas!"

7. Run a test page and do the tri-fold to be sure you have everything placed well. And don't forget to Spellcheck!

The rest is up to you. If you have a color printer, you may want to add some clip art or even a picture of you and/or your family. It's another way to share your favorite hymn or carol without having to sing a solo. Let's face it, you really don't want to hear me sing "Oh, Holy Night."

Tradition!

Tevye struggles to keep to tradition in Fiddler On The Roof. I can relate to his struggle. Life changes. Kids grow up and choose their own way to go--their own traditions. It always seemed that just about the time something became tradition at our house for Christmas, it changed.

Decorating the tree is one example. When the kids were little we put the tree up on Christmas Eve making it appear that Santa had brought it and his elves decorated it. As time went on and it became more difficult to hide the tree, we put it up and let Santa's elves decorate. Then when the boys started getting older and knew about those elves, we let them stay up a bit to help decorate. As they got to be teens, we put the tree up early and then everyone got to decorate. When I gave in and we turned to an artificial tree, we put it up even earlier. Now it goes up Thanksgiving weekend when everyone is home and the grandkids are here. Hmmm. There's never been a take-down-the-tree tradition though.

One tradition that was started by my aunt and was truly appreciated was her gift of a Christmas ornament each year for each of us. When our boys got married, there were enough ornaments collected over the years for them to have a good start on their own tree decorations.

Now my aunt's ornaments were purchased but this being Crafty Saturday, you might want to consider a handmade ornament. One of the best places to make a really nice ornament is at a ceramics store. There are lots of them in malls and shopping centers where you can pick out some greenware or unpainted ceramic ornaments and with the paints they supply you can create a keepsake. Some of them have paints that dry with a glossy finish and others will fire them in a kiln for you. Take a friend along and enjoy an afternoon of creativity!

Here are several links to help you locate a store:

Paint Your Own Pottery

The Painted Penguin

Color Me Mine

I Want A Hippopotamus!

Remember "All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth"? How about "Santa Baby" where Ertha Kitt belts out a list that would make retailers' little hearts beat faster? Those and other I-want Christmas songs have been replaced on my favorites list by "I Want A Hippopotamus For Christmas." Perhaps it's the grandma in me but every time I hear that song I think of my grandkids--especially a couple who would probably see no problem in asking Santa for a real hippo.

Now, how to turn the topic of the week into a Crafty Saturday? Easy. Get those kids to make a recording or a video of them singing some of those clever kid songs. There are lots of ways to do it. Use one of the computer cameras and mics to record directly to a file on your computer. Digital cameras also include a video mode for making short videos. These can be downloaded to your computer and then linked together by using Windows Live Movie Maker or similar free software that often comes with your computer.

What grandparent wouldn't love getting a CD or DVD of her grandkids performing Christmas songs? It would certainly beat getting a hippopotamus for Christmas. I'll bet they eat as much as the kids did when they were teenagers.

Here's the recording if you'd like to listen:

Light Bulb Snowman

Before you throw away that burned out incadescent light bulb consider two things. One, it could become a collector's item soon once all of these energy-saving-new-fangled-break-them-and-call-HazMat-for-disposal bulbs are in place everywhere. And two, it could become a clever tree decoration. If you like idea number two, here is how to put it together.

You'll need:

Light bulb
Craft paints - white, black, optional: red, yellow, brown
Paintbrushes - 1 small, 1 large
Craft or floral wire about 12" long
Baby sock
Quick-drying glue
Scissors
Needle and thread

1. Paint the glass part with two coasts of white paint.

2. Paint eyes, nose, mouth, and tree-limb type arms, leaving space at the top of the glass for the hat rim. If you want a little more control, it might be easier to use a black fine tipped marker for the details.

3. Cut the top off the sock, the part that goes over the ankle, but be sure it is long enough to cover the metal part of the bulb.

4. Place the sock top inside-out, down over the metal top of the bulb. Wrap one end of the wire around the sock and at the metal base then make a loop and wrap the other end around the metal and sock in the opposite directioin. This will be the hanger. Anchor the wire and sock with a little glue if necessary.

5. Pull the sock up over the metal and, allowing the wire loop to be exposed, stitch the sock closed. This makes the hat for your snowman.

6. Use the rest of the sock to make a little scarf and glue in place.

Now don't you feel better? You recycled an old light bulb and didn't have to call HazMat!

Make Your Own Book

For Christmas one year we gave a really fun gift to my mother-in-law. Yes, this is the same lady who makes angels in the snow (see the story in our book). She was a member of the Robbins' Antarctic Adventure in 2006 which was undoubtly one of the best trips we have ever taken. I don't know that she ever got her pictures organized into anything other than the envelopes they came in from the drugstore developer. So I set about making her a photobook.

There are several websites to choose from for making photobooks. The one I started out with was Shutterfly.com. They have an easy online program which allows you to follow one of their templates or get creative and design your own pages. They supply all the backgrounds to choose from and the page layouts and fonts and colors, etc. All you do is upload your digital photos and click and drag them to the pages. Or you can just let the program fill them in for you. The books come out looking very professional. Prices are not bad. Most of the books I've made have ranged between $15.99 and $30.00. They run specials every so often.

Since I started, I've also found Lulu.com with a similar program. I made a book for our grandkids about our visit to their house this past summer. Lulu had some very colorful backgrounds suited for a kid's book. I put together the pictures of things we'd done while Mommy took care of the new baby and added a storyline so that it read like a simple children's book. Prices here were similar to the other sites I found.

If you don't mind downloading and installing a program from the net, Picaboo.com has a terrific design program that is easy to follow and allows for lots of creativity. You can even put a picture as a background on a page. It's very flexible in what it allows you to change on the page layouts. I had a terrific time putting together a nice book of some of my travel stories with my own pictures.

My mother-in-law was delighted with her photobook of Antarctica and has it displayed on her coffee table. Think of all the ways you could make someone smile with their very own book.

Reindeer Ornament

Several years ago my grandkids made me some reindeer ornaments that have adorned our tree ever since. They are among my favorite decorations. They aren't difficult to make and would be a fun project for little ones.

You'll need some brown construction paper, scissors, crayons, string and glue. If you want to get fancy, you can get the movable plastic eyes and a little red pom pom for the nose.

Trace the child's foot on a piece of the brown construction paper. Cut it out and set aside. This will be the reindeer's face.

Next trace each of the child's hands on more brown paper and cut out. These will be the antlers.

You may want to glue these to some poster board or stiffer paper to make them sturdier.

Then glue the hand cutouts to the top of the "foot" on the back to make the antlers. Use the crayons to make the eyes and nose or glue on the plastic eyes and red pom pom nose.

Add a string to the back with some glue and you have a cute little reindeer made by your cute little dears.

The Christmas Cruise

Hello everyone. July already! If my mother were still with us, she'd already be knitting Christmas stockings. In keeping with this week's theme and my challenge to give you a Crafty Saturday post each week, I'm fondly remembering our first Christmas away from home and family.

We booked a cruise on the Paul Gauguin which travels around the islands of French Polynesia. I wasn't sure how I would feel being away from home for the holidays but it was hard to be down when we spent a warm sunny Christmas day on an island in the South Pacific with Santa in shorts. Christmas Eve was special as well. The crew gathered together and sang songs from their various homelands that celebrated Christmas.

Bob and I had decided not to exchange gifts--the cruise was gift enough. But gifts are a part of Christmas that I didn't want to give up entirely. At the dollar store, I found small six inch stockings and lots of Christmas candy. I bought all hard candies since I didn't want to worry about anything melting in my suitcase. On Christmas morning, I fixed a stocking for our cabin stewardess and an extra one for her to give to a friend. She was so excited when she received it, she went squealing down the hall to find her friend and give the extra to her. I don't remember anyone ever being so thrilled with just a tiny gift.

The dollar store is a good source for tiny stockings but if you have some leftover Christmas material in your fabric stash, now would be a good time to make a template of a stocking from an old file folder, trace the pattern, sew the seams, trim the top with a little left over bric brac or ribbon and be prepared for Christmas fun. Fill them with Christmas candies and you will always have something ready for unexpected holiday visitors or someone who needs a little stocking full of good wishes.